LEARNING ABOUT WALTER
DEAN MYERS

BIOGRAPHY

Walter Dean Myers is a writer of
children's and young adult literature. Walter Dean Myers was born in West Virginia
in 1937 but spent most of his childhood and young adult life in Harlem. He was
raised by foster parents and remembers a happy but tumultuous life while going
through his own teen years. Suffering with a speech impediment, he cultivated
a habit of writing poetry and short stories and acquired an early love of reading.

In 1954 he quit high school and
joined the army. He later held many positions with various agencies including
the New York State Department of Labor, the post office, a rehabilitation
center and a transformer company. All during this time, Mr. Myers was writing
for various magazines and periodicals. The turning point in his career came
when he won a contest run by the Council on Interracial Books for Children
with his book Where Does a Day Go? in 1969. Since then he has supported
himself, his second wife, and four children with his very prolific writing
in the area of children's and young adult literature. He volunteers at schools
in Jersey City where is presently lives. He received his degree from Empire
State College in 1984.

Myers explains his feeling for
the young adult novel, "The special place of the young adult novel should
be in its ability to address the needs of the reader to understand his or
her relationships with the world, with each other, and with adults. The young
adult novel often allows the reader to directly identify with a protagonist
of similar interests and development." He is a compassionate, introspective
person who believes, "It is this language of values which I hope to bring
to my books. . . . I want to bring values to those who have not been valued,
and I want to etch those values in terms of the ideal. Young people need ideals
which identify them, and their lives, as central . . . guideposts which tell
them what they can be, should be, and indeed are."

Following his success with young
adult literature, Meyer has branched out to include topics of nonfiction including
black history with his recent Now Is Your Time! and The Righteous
Revenge of Artemis Bonner an 1880's historical setting. Both have been
received with much acclaim.

"Should whites write about blacks?"
"Of course I feel you should write about anybody you want to write about,
I couldn't care less who you write about. But what very often happens is that,
when you're writing about a culture that's not your own, you may hit large
areas of it, but there are so many areas that you miss." From: Roger Sutton.
"Threads in Our Cultural Fabric," School Library Journal. Vol. 40,
No. 6 (June 1994): 26.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
OF WALTER DEAN MYERS

Where
Does the Day Go? Illus.by Leo Carty. New York: Parents Magazine Press, 1969.The Dragon Takes a Wife. Illus. by Ann Grifalconi. Indianapolis, IN:
Bobbs-Merrill, 1972.The Dancers. Illus. by Anne Rockwell. New York: Parents Magazine Press,
1972.Fly, Jimmy, Fly! Illus. by Moneta Barnett. New York: Putnam, 1974.The World of Work: A Guide to Choosing a Career. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill,
1975.Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff. New York: Viking, 1975.Social Welfare. New York: F. Watts, 1976.Brainstorm. Illus. with photographs by Chuck Freedman. New York: F. Watts,
1977.Mojo and the Russians. New York: Viking, 1977.Victory for Jamie. New York: Scholastic, 1977.It Ain't All for Nothin'. New York: Viking, 1978.The Young Landlords. New York: Viking, 1979.The Black Pearl and the Ghost; or, One Mystery after Another. Illus.
by Robert Quackenbush. New York: Viking, 1980.The Golden Serpent. Illus. by Alice Provensen and Martin Provensen. New
York: Viking 1980.Hoops. New York: Delacorte, 1981.The Legend of Tarik. New York: Viking, 1981.Won't Know Till I Get There. New York: Viking, 1982.The Nicholas Factor. New York: Viking, 1983.Tales of a Dead King. New York: Morrow, 1983.Mr. Monkey and the Gotcha Bird. Illus. by Leslie Morrill. New York: Delacorte,
1984.Motown and Didi: A Love Story. New York: Viking, 1984.The Outside Shot. New York: Delacorte, 1984.Sweet Illusions. Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 1986.Crystal. New York: Viking 1987.Scorpions. New York: Harper & Row, 1988.Me, Mop, and the Moondance Kid. New York: Delacorte, 1988.Fallen Angels. New York: Scholastic, 1988.The Mouse Rap. New York: HarperCollins, 1990.Now is Your Time! The African-American Struggle for Freedom. New York:
HarperCollins, 1991.Somewhere in the Darkness. New York: Scholastic, 1992.Mop, Moondance, and the Nagasaki Knights. New York: Delacorte, 1992.The Righteous Revenge of Artemis Bonner. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary. New York: Scholastic, 1993.Young Martin's Promise. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1993.A Place Called Heartbreak: A Story of Vietnam. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn,
1993.Brown Angels: An Album of Pictures and Verse. New York: HarperCollins,
1993.The Glory Field. New York: Scholastic, 1994.Darnell Rock Reporting. New York: Delacorte Press, 1994.The Story of the Three Kingdoms. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.Shadow of the Red Moon. New York: Scholastic, 1995.Glorious Angels: An Album of Pictures and Verse. New York: HarperCollins,
1995.The Dragon Takes a Wife. New York; Scholastic, 1995.Smiffy Blue: Ace Crime Detective: The Case of the Missing Ruby and Other
Stories. New York: Scholastic, 1996.One More River to Cross: An African American Photograph Album. New York:
Harcourt Brace, 1996.How Mr. Monkey Saw the Whole World. New York: Doubleday, 1996.

"The Arrow" Series

Contributor to Anthologies

Orde Coombs, editor, What We Must
See: Young Black Storytellers. New York: Dodd, 1971.
Sheila Hamanaka, editor. On the Wings of Peace: Writers and Illustrators Speak
Out for Peace, In Memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin,
1995.
Sonia Sanchez, editor, We Be Word Sorcerers: Twenty-five Stories by Black Americans.
New York: Bantam, 1973.

AWARDS
TO WALTER DEAN MYERS

Where
Does the Day Go? Council on Interracial Books for Children Award, 1968 .The Dancers. Child Study Association of America's Children's Books of
the Year, 1972.Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff. ALA Notable Books, 1975.Fast Sam, Cool Clyde and Stuff. Woodward Park School Annual Book Award,
1976.It Ain't All for Nothin'. ALA Notable Book Citation and ALA Best Books
for Young Adults Citation, 1978.The Young Landlords. ALA Notable Book Citation and ALA Best Books for
Young Adults Citation, 1979.The Young Landlords. Coretta Scott King Award for Fiction, 1980.The Legend of Tarik. ALA Best Books for Young Adults Citation, 1981.Hoops. ALA Best Books for Young Adults Citation, 1982.The Legend of Tarik. Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, National
Council for Social Studies and the Children's Book Council, 1982.Hoops. Edgar Allan Pie Award runner-up, 1982.Won't Know Till I Get There. Parents' Choice Award, 1982.Tales of a Dead King. New Jersey Institute of Technology Authors Award,
1983.The Outside Shot. Parents' Choice Award, 1984.Motown and Didi. Coretta Scott King Award for Fiction, 1985.Adventure in Granada. Child Study Association of America's, 1987.Fallen Angels. Coretta Scott King Award for Fiction, 1988.Fallen Angels and Scorpions.ALA Best Books for Young Adults,1988.Scorpions and Me, Mop, and the Moondance Kid. ALA Notable Book Citation,
1988.Fallen Angels. Parents' Choice Award, 1988.Scorpions. Newbery Honor Book, 1989.The Mouse Rap. IRA Children's Choice, 1991.Now is Your Time! The African-American Struggle for Freedom. Coretta
Scott King Award for Nonfiction, 1992.Now is Your Time! The African-American Struggle for Freedom. NCTE Orbis
Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction, 1992Now is Your Time! The African-American Struggle for Freedom. ALA Best
Books for Young Adults and Notable Books for Children, 1992.Somewhere in the Darkness. Boston Globe/Horn Book, 1992Somewhere in the Darkness. Booklist Editers Choice, 1992.The Righteous Revenge of Artemis Bonner. ALA Best Books for Young Adults,
1993.Somewhere in the Darkness. Newbery Honor Book, 1993.Somewhere in the Darkness. ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Notable Books
for Children, 1993.Somewhere in the Darkness. Coretta Scott King Award, 1993.Malcolm X. Coretta Scott King Award for nonfiction, 1994.Malcolm X. ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 1994.Malcolm X. IRA Teachers' Choice, 1994.

Monster.
Michael L. Printz Award 2000.

CRITICISM FROM ALA
LIST OF BANNED BOOKS

Fallen Angels, New York: Scholastic.
Challenged in Ohio schools (1990) because of profane language.Fast Sam, Cool Clyde and Stuff. New York: Viking, 1975. Challenged by school
administrator (1983) in Ohio.Hoops. New York: Dell. Challenged in Colorado (1989) school libraries.

REVIEWS AND CRITIQUES

SCORPIONS

This section is written by Barbara
Synder.

Jamal, a black young man, living
in Harlem is struggling to handle the responsibilities of becoming a man within
the conflicting environment of home, school and now membership in a gang, the
Scorpions. His friendship with Tito is jeopardized by the circumstances surrounding
his being forced to take a place with the Scorpions and the resultant possession
of a gun and involvement with drugs. Tito says: "They look like they thrown-away
people....that makes me scared, because I don't want to be no thrown-away guy."
But for Jamal there is the question of the bail money for his brother, his Mother's
anguish, his Father's wish for him to be a "man."

Strong characters and several subplots
provide a superb, fast moving, suspenseful story. Told with variant English
and some understandable "street language." Jamal's plight, rather than being
depressing is amazingly upbeat, and you are sure - well almost sure- that
he will draw on his rich background to survive. Walter Dean Myers draws an
excellent picture of life in an urban city.

THE MOUSE RAP

This section is written by Carol
Marlowe

Mouse as he is called by his friends
(real name Frederick,) and his ace, Styx, along with Omega, Beverly and Sheri
enjoy basketball and hangin', and the guys are even persuaded to join a dance
contest. This summer is even more special for these Harlem teens. Rumor has
it there is a stash of cash hidden in an abandoned building by gangster Tiger
Moran.

Sheri's Granddad worked as a mover,
of course being black did not belong to Sudden Sam's, but he heard them talking.
Sudden Sam is now living in a nursing home but joins the gang of Gramps, Mouse,
Styx, Beverly, Sheri and Moran's Grandson, Booster, in the search for the
treasure. At the end, the city has to get involved, but fame and wealth is
bestowed upon the gang.

"While it's a cheerful, lively
story, this is busier than most of Myers books and has so much going on that
it's almost cluttered. It's also determinedly bouncy so that there is little
contrast in the writing--amusing but as relentless as a rock video."

From: The Bulletin of the Center
for Children's Books. June 1990, Volume 43, No10, p.248.

MOTOWN AND DIDI:
A LOVE STORY

This section is written by Marilyn
Fischer.

This is the story of two young adults
living in Harlem. The female, Didi, yearns to go to college, but her mother
is unable to afford this "luxury." Motown, the young man, works when possible
but is homeless until Didi convinces him that he deserves better and finds him
an apartment. Their relationship becomes more than friends, helping one another
when they interact with a local drug lord who has gotten Didi's brother involved
in his drug business. Both of these young people are searching for a way out
of Harlem, both are smart enough to want better lives.

For junior and senior high school
students, this story will touch, as well as entertain. There is action, as
well as romance, but not so much of the latter as to be mushy. Instead it's
more of a study of two sensitive teenagers fighting to survive in their environment.

Didi is also fighting to keep her
family intact, her mother alive, and her brother free of the drug addiction
which may soon destroy him. Motown is trying hard to educate himself and support
himself at jobs that don't last long and are generally unpleasant and low
paying.

"the novel...makes a potent anti-drug
statement."

From: Nancy Hammond.Horn Book.
March/April, 1985.

"...strong, underlying anti-drug
abuse message."

From: Sally Estes found in Booklist.
October1, 1984.

THE GLORY FIELD

This section is written by Carol
Levandowski.

In this saga of an African American
family, reminiscent of Roots, five generations are traced from the 1753
capture of Muhammad Bilal in Sierra Leone to the present experiences of two
cousins in New York City.

Slavery, the Civil War and freedom
are chronicled through the intervening generations of family members. Throughout
this novel, the love of family is the foundation for each character's life.

"Each part of the story ends on
a hopeful note, yet each is unfinished. Readers are left to wonder what happened
to various people; sometimes an answer is provided, but more often not."